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Los Angeles. Portrait of a City
A pictorial history of the world's most enigmatic cityFrom the first known photograph taken in Los Angeles to its most recent sweeping vistas, this photographic tribute to the City of Angels provides a fascinating journey through the city's cultural, political, industrial, and sociological history. It traces the city's development from the 1880s' real estate boom, through the early days of Hollywood and the urban sprawl of the late 20th century, right up to the present day. With over 500 images, L.A. is shown emerging from a desert wasteland to become a vast palm-studded urban metropolis. Events that made world news–including two Olympics, Bobby Kennedy's assassination, and the Rodney King riots–reveal a city of many dimensions. The entertainment capital of the world, Hollywood, and its celebrities are showcased along with many other notable residents, personalities, architects, artists, and musicians. The city's pop cultural movements, its music, surfing, health food fads, gangs, and hot rods are included, as are its notorious crimes and criminals. This book depicts Los Angeles in all its glory and grit, via hundreds of freshly discovered images including those of Julius Shulman, Garry Winogrand, William Claxton and many other superb photographers, culled from major historical archives, museums, private collectors, and universities. These are given context and resonance through essays by renowned California historian Kevin Starr and Los Angeles literature expert David Ulin.
572 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 3, 2018
Really cool. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Makes me want to visit L.A. even more.
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January 20, 2022Super neat book! Lots of great photos that really shapes the history of Los Angeles.
December 28, 2023
Incredible photos, great overview of the history of Los Angeles. Very well curated and edited. I wish there were more cities in this series.
March 29, 2010
As long time Angelenos, we were certainly excited to receive our invitation to Taschen Books headquarters for the new release party for their latest coffee table opus `Los Angeles - Portrait of a City.' While partying with the Hollywood elite (Diane Keaton, Hugh Hefner, Jerry Bruckheimer, David LaChappell, Rodney Bingenheimer, various politicos, etc.) and being serenaded by hometown music from the Doors, Mamas and Papas, the Go-Go's and others, we celebrated the release of Jim Heimann and Kevin Starr's new 572 page exhibition of the colorful photographic history of the Los Angeles basin.
In this heavyweight book, readers are treated to nearly all the glorious history of the City of Angels from it's very beginnings as an oil and orange grove mecca, thru the war years, the Hollywood years, the earthquakes, the riots and beyond. And while the book chronicles numerous LA icons (the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, Frank Gehry and the Case Study House; the famous buildings of Ciro's, the Brown Derby, the Hollywood Bowl, Capitol Records, Grauman's Chinese, the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Watts Towers, as well as the Dodgers arrival at the L.A. Coliseum, JFK's 1960 convention, RFK's assassination, OJ's car chase, Rodney King and more...) as well as the world famous personalities (the MGM players, James Dean, Cecil B. DeMille, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, the Beach Boys, Hugh Hefner and Joni Mitchell) and artists (Billy Al Bengston, Dennis Hopper, Helmut Newton, David Hockney's pool at the Hollywood Roosevelt and clips from Ed Ruscha's masterpiece `Every Building on the Sunset Strip, 1966), there are still significant gaps in the author's coverage.
One does wonder where some of the more recent luminaries of LA disappeared to within these pages. There are, for example, no photos of sports greats Sandy Koufax, Magic Johnson or NBA logo model, Jerry West, nor L.A. superstars like Jack Nicholson, Mickey Mouse or the Dreamworks triumvirate, no Johnny Carson or TV game show hosts or four time mayor Tom Bradley, and, in fact, very little or no depiction of the twin L.A. Olympics, the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl or the most recent years of LA fame and glory (the Queen Mary, Staples Center, The Grammys, Kodak Theatre, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink's, etc. - there are so few photographs taken since the year 2000 that the book has a dated-right-off-the-press feel.) In fact, one might have to squint to even find legends like Jack Warner and Walt Disney within these pages.
Though light on descriptive captions, Kevin Starr's text is quite comprehensive and the book does a magnificent job of referencing a reasonable number of additional L.A. inspired movies, books and records in its back page indexes, leaving anyone who wants to earn a masters degree in the city's stature with hours of resources to indulge their every whim. The English language book, which bills itself as the most complete photographic collection ever done on L.A., is translated into German and French as well. Ultimately, a fine collection, but not without some significant gaps. - [...:]
In this heavyweight book, readers are treated to nearly all the glorious history of the City of Angels from it's very beginnings as an oil and orange grove mecca, thru the war years, the Hollywood years, the earthquakes, the riots and beyond. And while the book chronicles numerous LA icons (the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, Frank Gehry and the Case Study House; the famous buildings of Ciro's, the Brown Derby, the Hollywood Bowl, Capitol Records, Grauman's Chinese, the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Watts Towers, as well as the Dodgers arrival at the L.A. Coliseum, JFK's 1960 convention, RFK's assassination, OJ's car chase, Rodney King and more...) as well as the world famous personalities (the MGM players, James Dean, Cecil B. DeMille, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, the Beach Boys, Hugh Hefner and Joni Mitchell) and artists (Billy Al Bengston, Dennis Hopper, Helmut Newton, David Hockney's pool at the Hollywood Roosevelt and clips from Ed Ruscha's masterpiece `Every Building on the Sunset Strip, 1966), there are still significant gaps in the author's coverage.
One does wonder where some of the more recent luminaries of LA disappeared to within these pages. There are, for example, no photos of sports greats Sandy Koufax, Magic Johnson or NBA logo model, Jerry West, nor L.A. superstars like Jack Nicholson, Mickey Mouse or the Dreamworks triumvirate, no Johnny Carson or TV game show hosts or four time mayor Tom Bradley, and, in fact, very little or no depiction of the twin L.A. Olympics, the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl or the most recent years of LA fame and glory (the Queen Mary, Staples Center, The Grammys, Kodak Theatre, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink's, etc. - there are so few photographs taken since the year 2000 that the book has a dated-right-off-the-press feel.) In fact, one might have to squint to even find legends like Jack Warner and Walt Disney within these pages.
Though light on descriptive captions, Kevin Starr's text is quite comprehensive and the book does a magnificent job of referencing a reasonable number of additional L.A. inspired movies, books and records in its back page indexes, leaving anyone who wants to earn a masters degree in the city's stature with hours of resources to indulge their every whim. The English language book, which bills itself as the most complete photographic collection ever done on L.A., is translated into German and French as well. Ultimately, a fine collection, but not without some significant gaps. - [...:]
November 8, 2018
Five stars for the photos going all the way back to the 1800's. I really found this book fascinating from many angles. From L.A. culture, to building the city, architecture to gangsters and Hollywood sets and movie stars, plus a lot more. I also enjoyed the excerpts about L.A. from books written by famous authors.
The things I did not like about this: The hefty tome which could have been reduced if not for multiple languages and the porn photo shoots complete with a guy with a hard on. Other than that I thought the book was classy, informative and entertaining.
Edit
The things I did not like about this: The hefty tome which could have been reduced if not for multiple languages and the porn photo shoots complete with a guy with a hard on. Other than that I thought the book was classy, informative and entertaining.
Edit
September 23, 2011
This is a massive, massive book with hundreds of big, high quality photos spanning the life of Los Angeles. I wish there had been more text, but I made do with the captions and chapter introductions. This had been on a gift list for a while and I'm very glad I was able to rent it from the library, since it's a whopper that would break the coffee table!
May 10, 2016
This pocket-sized book contains a wonderful pictorial review of the development of the city of Los Angeles from its inception to modern times. There are some magnificent photos, including a wonderful one of the "Hollywoodland" sign with a view into the yet-to-be-developed San Fernando Valley, the development of Downtown and Santa Monica beach. Notations are in English, German and French.
June 20, 2013
Beautiful photos of Los Angeles from the late 19th century through the beginning of the 21st. Lots of information to cover in a small amount of space. A good overview of the history of the City of Angels in images.
June 20, 2011
From the first known photograph taken in Los Angeles to its most recent sweeping vistas, this photographic tribute to the City of Angels provides a fascinating journey through the city's cultural, political, industrial, and sociological history.
July 24, 2014
A beautiful pictorial look at L.A.'s cultural, industrial, political and sociological history from the first known photograph of the city through the Rodney King riots. An invaluable homage and history of a city that's always been in thrall of the new.
February 7, 2015
Extraordinary images, frequently best appreciated by the use of a magnifying glass. The text is adequate, with a need for some editing for accuracy. All in all though, an amazing collection of photos!
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September 4, 2012Beatifully-printed photographs, and a reminder of how much the city has grown in such a short time.
July 4, 2014
I soaked this book up like a sponge
April 13, 2015
Fine little book on L.A. with a good selection of photos that do not rely overly on Hollywood.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews